1. Technical Field
The present invention relates generally to harnesses worn by humans, particularly those harnesses worn for safety purposes that may be connected as by a rope or cable to a building or other structure for breaking the descent of humans falling from great heights, and also those harnesses worn with parachutes.
2. Background Information
Safety harnesses of the type presently disclosed have been long known and commonly used, as, for example, by aviators, construction workers, mountain climbers, and even parents who wish to prevent their infants from escaping a baby carriage. Harnesses of this type generally include several straps that wrap around the torso of the person wearing the harness. These straps must be of adjustable length to conform to the bodies of different sized persons, but the process is frequently painstaking, the adjustment of one strap frequently necessitating the readjustment of one or several others.
Further, the process of donning the safety harness has often been at best confusing, and at worst quite difficult, especially for those who wear such a safety harness only infrequently. These harnesses frequently must be stepped into or pulled down over the head. The multiplicity of straps and buckles, each of which is designed to be positioned in a particular place and in a particular sequence, may be daunting, and may require some difficult physical maneuvers to ensure that they are properly positioned and fastened. Further, such harnesses are frequently uncomfortable to wear, or may inhibit the movements of the person wearing them. Sometimes this may lead to a person such as a worker in a dangerous position failing to wear the safety harness because they feel it is too great a hindrance to the performance of their duties.
Such harnesses that include a front lanyard ring for fastening a position-maintaining device such as a rope or cable frequently result in the front lanyard ring being positioned very high on the torso of the person wearing the harness, sometimes causing injury to the head of that person if they should fall. Prior art devices that illustrate this problem include U.S. Pat. No. 4,197,816, issued to Lusch on Apr. 15, 1980. This harness, which may be worn about either the upper or lower portion of the torso, may shift to a position very high on the chest and shoulders of the person wearing it when suspended by a rope or cable from the front lanyard ring, and could thereby result in harm or injury to that person. This may be true even when the straps of the harness are properly adjusted to the person wearing it.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,424,134, issued to Rosenblum on Jan. 28, 1969, discloses the common arrangement of a fixed lanyard mounting ring at the rear intersection of the shoulder straps of the harness. Also disclosed is a belt-mounted front ring to which may be attached a lanyard snap fastener or other fastening device. However, the vertical position of the front ring may not be adjusted with respect to the torso. The shoulder straps of the harness must be adjusted in two places to conform its shape to that of the torso of the person wearing the harness. To put on the harness, a person must first step into and through the two leg loops before putting their arms through the openings defined by the shoulder straps.
Another harness of this type is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,712,513, issued to Huppertsberg on Dec. 15, 1987. This reference discloses the use of a single, discontinuous shoulder strap that permits adjustment at the point of the discontinuity, allowing adjustment of the entire torso portion of the harness. However, Huppertsberg teaches a harness with shoulder straps extending vertically from the hips to the shoulders of the person wearing the harness. When the person rotates or bends to the side, these vertical portions may bind or restrict the person's freedom of motion. Further, this reference does not allow for adjustment of the vertical position of the front lanyard ring, as the front ring is maintained in position by a transverse chest strap sewn to the opposing shoulder portions of the shoulder strap. Also, the position of the front ring is high on the torso of the person wearing the harness, subjecting that person to the possibility of being struck or injured on or about the head by the balancing device to which the front ring may be attached, in the event the person should lose their balance and fall.
The safety harness of the present invention overcomes the difficulties described above and affords other features and advantages heretofore not available.